


Dawn of the Rock Giants

by Tangurple



Category: Shadow of the Colossus
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 10:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8099281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangurple/pseuds/Tangurple
Summary: Some say that true love is unconditional and survives even death. Is that same love still present if the dead is revived? For many, we claim to be willing to lay down our own lives to protetect the ones we love but more often than not, we value our lives more than those of the loved ones. There's a man who will risk everything for one girl. There is a man who will go to hell and back for her. This man is known as Matthaeus.





	1. Journey to the Forbidden Lands

**Author's Note:**

> This story is not Cannon despite being based off the game's original plot. 
> 
> All ORIGINAL ideas, settings, and characters are property of Team Ico and Sony Entertainment.

The journey from Aerök to this forbidden land is long. The mountain range is treacherous, loose rocks and small ledges. This is a story of a young man and his painted horse. They dared to venture out into this uncharted and unforgiving land.  
On the horse in front of its rider was a long piece of rolled cloth. A pair of pale feet stuck out from inside the cloth. The rider was a young white man with long dark oak hair, wearing a worn brown robe with a blue patterned cape. The cape was two sided covering his chest and back. A sword was wrapped in a rough leather sheath and strapped to his left hip, and a bow hung from his back. One hand held a body cloth still, while the other maintained a firm grip on the reigns.

  
The rocky path winded around the mountains like a snake. It would be another day till he was to reach the temple. The mountain's end was within sight and with haste the horse galloped across the straightened path. They entered the dense forest. Rain began to fall and the forest seemed to bounce around with every drop of rain water. They took shelter under a small rocky overhang until the rain lightens up. Night was quickly approaching and the rain only came down heavier. The rider set up camp and slept the night away.  
The morning sun was just starting to appear between the trees and the rain had stopped. The rider saddled up the horse, placing the body wrapped in cloth on his lap. He shook the reins and the horse began walking.

  
By noon, he reached a small stone shrine that led to a bridge spanning nearly a thousand meters across, and a hundred meters from the base of the valley. The bridge seemed sturdy and built with sand covered stone. The rider slapped the reins and the horse resisted, but then started cautiously walking across the ancient bridge.

  
On the other side of the bridge waited sixteen layers of Hell that humanity had always feared for generations. Theses sixteen layers come in different forms. Both large and small, fearsome and kinda adorable. Each made of rock, fur, architecture, and black blood. Theses sixteen layers of Hell are known as the Colossi.  
At the foot of the temple on the other side of the bridge, stood two statues. One statue appeared to be a worm with teeth and hardened scales, the other was a monkey with hammer fists. On the wall was an outline of a door, then the area began to shake a small bit. The door opened revealing an entrance into the temple. The horse trotted in.  
The rider's eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the room. A staircase led down the side of the cylinder room spiraling all the way down to the floor. They walked down for an hour. Once at the bottom, he stared into a pool of murky water only able to see a reflection of himself with black streaks running down his face and horns on his head. The rider rubbed his eyes and looked towards a small altar on the other side of the hall. The room led into a hall with high ceilings and balcony.

  
He climbed off the horse and slung the body wrapped in cloth over his right shoulder. As he approached the wind flew through the hall creating an echo of a 'whoosh'. He placed the body on the sand coated alter and flung the cloth onto the floor. The body was of a young maiden, long straight dirty blonde hair, wearing a white robe with a small hole near the stomach lined with dried crimson liquid.

  
"Who darst place a sacrifice upon my altar?" a voice boomed without source, mixture of male and female tones

  
"I have a request for the great Dormin" the rider replied shouting down the hall

  
"Who be thee that hast request for Dormin?"

  
"I am Matthaeus!"

  
"I am he, the powerful Dormin. What ist that you request of me?"

  
"To bring back the life of this maiden" Matthaeus demanded

  
"What is her name?"

  
"Elizabeth Coppens"

  
"In order for me to resurrect her you must perform 1 task, but that task comes with a price-" Dormin was cut off

  
"There is no price that can stop me"

  
"Raise thy sword by the light and head to the place where the light gathers... There, thou shalt find the colossus to defeat"

  
Matthaeus walked to the stone garden that overlooked the wasteland just past the alter. He removed the sword from its rough leather sheath and held it up, tip towards the moon. Sunlight reflected off the shiny blackened blade forming a solid beam towards a small clump of mountains in the south.


	2. The First Colossus, Valus

Matthaeus stared at the location where the beam of light gathered and pointed. The distance was not as far as one would think. One could be by the southern mountains in just a day's time by foot, a few hours if on horseback. He sheathed his sword and called for his horse:  
"Fennik!"

  
The horse jerked its head towards the sound of Matthaeus' voice. Matthaeus called again:  
"Fennik!"

  
Fennik bolted up the shrine's stone steps and neighed to signify his arrival. Matthaeus walked over and stroked Fenik's mane and climbed onto the saddle. He turned his head towards the old altar, one final look at her. He held back his tears and mumbled:  
"I will return."

  
He shook the reins and off to the southern mountains they were. The path ahead was straight and rocky. Life was scarce and what did remain was near death and slightly withered. Fenik sprinted across the barren landscape kicking up dust and sand. The southern mountains showed a small entrance outlined with ancient carved pillars.

  
Upon arrival, Matthaeus looked upward at the plateau above. A path led up but started about 10 feet up. The wall to his right was lined with ancient carvings and thick vines. He then looked at his horse:  
"Fennik, i need you to stay here."

  
Matthaeus squatted in front of the wall and readied his hands. With full force he jumped from his knees and reached two feet from the ledge. "Umph" came out of his lungs past the vocal cords with heavy force. He contracted his right elbow and slammed it onto the ledge, giving him leverage. Using this leverage, he pulled himself up and looked ahead. The path before him was straight forward. The trip up was small jumps and climbs in horseshoe paths.

  
Once he reached the highest shelf, he peeked around for his foe. From the edge of the path that he was on, only a piece of the barren battlefield was visible. From the corner that was hidden behind a stone wall walked out a large being, one made of stone, fur, and architecture. The ground shook from this colossal's massive footsteps.

  
"Valus, the minotaur. So Aaron was right, they are real."

Matthaeus mumbled to himself  
The colossus was indeed Valus, but it was two legged and wielded some sort of greenish unbreakable tower as a club. Its face was that of a bull, made from old houses and roofs. Eyes were of blue stained glass with edges of black ink. Fur covered the top of its head, down its back onto the rear side of its left foot.

  
Valus turned its head and looked down at Matthaeus, the once blue eyes turned to a yellow-orange and the look of hatred fell upon its face. The pupils slid to the bottom right corner of its eye, glaring down at the sword:  
"Freahugh merok, sateem tok adormint." Valus grunted through the architectural mask. It gripped the hammer tightly and slammed it into its mask. A crack formed creating a movable jaw line for Valus. It repeated its message:  
"Free me, send me back to Dormin"

  
Matthaeus stood there puzzled, not knowing what to do, fight, run, question...? The colossus just kept staring at the sword. Matthaeus ran towards the colossus and Valus lowered its right hand allowing Matthaeus to climb on. Valus then placed him on his head.

  
"Stab my brain, i can endure the pain, but be warned. The other colossi are not like I. The others will fight and resist. I was the first removed piece of Dormin, i long to be one with him again." Valus explained turning its eyes to a green.

  
Matthaeus held the sword by its short handle and thrusted the blade into a crevice in the rocky skull. Black blood spewed out with the intensity of a geyser. A foul stench followed, that of a rotting corpse mixed with feces and fresh manure. Matthaeus slid down the colossal's neck and stabbed into another crevice. A second geyser of black blood formed.

  
"Thank you, warr--" Valus gasped with respect. It dropped the tower hammer and kneeled. The left stone hand fell upon the earth with the palm near the handle. The right fell in front of Valus, once its head made contact with the hardened ground. Matthaeus jumped off and ran to put some distance between him and the pools of black blood.

  
A darkness overtook the stone corpse making it one with the earth. Once combined the darkness formed many snake tails in the air. Matthaeus peaked with curiosity walked towards those tails. One was drawn to him, challenging Matthaeus to touch it. He did and the other tails stabbed themselves into his chest becoming one with Matthaeus.  
He collapsed to the ground in a similar position to Valus, except the sword was in his right hand which laid in front of him. His vision went blurry as a circle of white light with walls of black blood came into view. He had lost any and all control of his body, like going into a slumber. Then a voice rang out, that of a young girl's. The words were mumbled but the tone was familiar, he could not guess it owner.

  
"Is this the feel of death? Is this my demise, will i see my Elizabeth again?" Matthaeus pondered.  
Then Darkness and silence overwhelmed him.


	3. The 2nd Colossus, Quadratus

"Thy next foe is... in the seaside cave it moves slowly... raise thy courage to defeat it" Dormin's voice echoed through the shrine  
"Alright" Matthaeus exclaimed "FENIK!"

  
The horse bolted up the stone steps and stopped in front of Matthaeus. Fenik's head held high and heart pounding just waiting to run for miles. He climbed onto the leather saddle and the horse trotted outside. The sun sustained high in the sky and its beams of light strong like Matthaeus' love for Elizabeth. Matthaeus held up the legendary sword and looked for its deflected beam of light.  
The beam pointed downward and northbound, just behind the shrine of worship, laid his next foe. The valley behind the shrine was deep and had a river passing through. A small earthen bridge made connection between the mainland and southern territory. Crossing the bridge and into the valley, Matthaeus readied himself for the next battle. A small cave hid in the edge of the cliff walled up in green stone architecture.  
Matthaeus and Fenik stood a few hundred meters from the greenish stone wall. The ground began to shake with an unforgettable strength and dust along with small rocks, fell of the wall. Cracks began to form weakening the wall's resistance. Rocks flew and chunks of the wall slammed into the earth.

  
Emerging from the shadows of the seaside cave came forth a ram-like colossus, 70 meters tall and 140 meters long. It walked on four stone hooves and its body coated in heavy fur. Quadratus' face was made of the same stone and similar design to Valus.  
Matthaeus stared into its stained glass sky blue eyes, while Fenik halted and began to panic. Matthaeus hopped off Fenik's back and aimed his bow at Quadratus' eyes. He inhaled and strung an arrow into the bow. Exhaling, his fingers loosened their grip on the metal tipped wooden arrow.  
The arrow sailed through the salty air, as its feathers sliced through the hanging moisture. Its speed nearly unmeasurable and the feathers ruffled and eventually one by one fell off. The metal tip braced for impact and crashed into the colossal's eye. The glass eye cracked and shattered releasing the blue coloring liquid and the arrow vanished from sight.

  
Quadratus flailed, shaking its head violently and exposed the bottom of its hooves. A dim blue light glowed between the fibers of stone and another arrow flew. The beast kneeled and appeared weakened.

  
Matthaeus used the colossal's weakened state to his advantage. Without hesitation he grabbed the shaggy moist fur and scaled the furry mountain. The smell of rot entered his mucus-lined nose causing his face to cringe. Once on the beast's back, he stood and made a full on sprint to Quadratus' head. The blue weak spot dimly glowed through the thick coat of shaggy stone gray green fur.

  
The legendary sword penetrated a small opening in the stone skin. As Matthaeus pulled it out, the foul stenched black blood geyser erupted. In reaction, the beast threw its head around in motions that would make most ill, but Matthaeus held onto the blood soaked fur with all his might. The sword fell out of his hand and got wedged into a small crevice in its skin.

  
Matthaeus jumped and used the beast's head drop to land on the handle of the sword. With every pound of pressure, the sword sunk further into the skull and made contact with the core. The core of Quadratus was filled with black blood and Dormin's essence.  
The colossal's remaining eye glowed sun red, then slowly faded into darkness. A slight almost cheery moan came from the colossus' stone encased mouth. The colossus collapsed onto its side spewing thick streams of black blood onto the once tan sand. The earth rumbled knocking Matthaeus off the colossal's head and onto the rough sandy floor.  
Like a pack of snakes, Dormin's essence slither across the ground. Matthaeus flipped over breathing through his mouth and then realized that the sword was still inside the colossus. But before he could stand, the essence forced its way into his mouth, rendering him unconscious. Light faded and in the distance laid the giant blackened ram.


	4. The 3rd Colossus, Gaius

Matthaeus laid on the stone floor of the Shrine of Worship. The sword shifted colors from liquid black ink to solid dull silver. Fenik trotted around impatiently waiting for his rider to awaken. Wind blew around echoing it's calming sound off the temple walls.

  
Matthaeus breathed life again and pushed off the ground onto his feet. He regained his bearings and walked towards the alter. Elizabeth laid still frozen in time as her clothes ignored the passing wind. Dormin made his presence known by silencing the wind. Matthaeus turned around looking up towards the yellow light from the circular hole in the ceiling.

  
"Thy next foe is... A giant canopy soars to the heavens... The anger of the sleeping giant shatters the Earth"

  
Matthaeus nodded and whistled for Fenik, who sprinted up the mossy stone stairs excited to go on another adventure. Matthaeus climbed onto the horse's back and slammed his ankles into Fenik's side. Fenik shot down the steps and out behind the temple. Matthaeus held the sword in the air as beams of blue light radiated and gathered in the northwest behind some mountains.

  
Once again they crossed the somehow stable sandstone bridge to the other side of the valley. A small statue made of sand and sandstone stood in the distance reflecting sunlight. Curiosity peaked in Matthaeus causing him to want to investigate it. The statue was faded and worn away from the sands of time, the engravings and markings were smoothed out. On the statue sat idly a small black gecko with a glowing white/light blue tail.  
Matthaeus dismounted from the horse and walked towards the gecko. The gecko was known to alchemists as the endurant. Matthaeus equipped his bow and strung an arrow. The gecko was still, possibly asleep, as Matthaeus aimed and let go of the string. The string snapped into place launching the wooden arrow with much velocity. The soft gecko body became punctured and pinned to the statue by the arrow. Matthaeus rejoiced and removed the arrow from the dead gecko. Looking at gecko made his stomach rumble and having nothing else to eat, he cut off the head with his sword and ate the body and tail.

  
Not realizing what he ate, he felt dizzy and lightheaded for a minute as his muscles seemed to strengthen. The only side effect was the sour aftertaste. He felt satisfied hunger wise and with slightly more endurance. He mounted and trotted off towards the possible zone. The path was like a deep trench that led to a lake with a tall rusted metal structure with a large flat mushroom top. Next to the giant structure is a broken off rim piece that was connected to the platform and sunk beneath the lake.

  
Fenik was unable to be with him this fight since horse can't swim and the lake appears to be extremely deep. Roughly ten feet from shore the water turns ink black, while at the shore it's a clearer gray. Matthaeus sighed knowing that his only clothes he brought were about to become soaked with water. He sheathed the sword into its rough leather sheath and dove into the dark murky water.

  
Th water felt neither cold or hot as well as dry. His clothes absorbed none of the water so when he reached the rusty metal rim path connected to the canopy tower, he stood up and walked out of the lake dry as if he had never swam. He ran up the rim and jumped onto the platform. No colossus stood standing making Matthaeus wonder if he was in the wrong place.

  
Suddenly a large rocky landmass began to move forcing the canopy tower to shake violently. Matthaeus fell onto his back and embraced the metal ground. Once the tower stopped shaking, Matthaeus stood again looking up at the now standing rock colossus. Gaius stood 97 feet tall with its 30 foot stone beam as its right arm. Matthaeus was worried for his life and wondered if he could reason with it.

  
"Colossal Earth Knight, you have something I'm looking for" Matthaeus shouted hoping the colossus could hear him. Unfortunately, the colossus didn't as it slammed its stone beam into the canopy floor near him launching Matthaeus a few feet back. Adrenaline took over, with haste Matthaeus jumped to his feet and ran across the tower platform looking for a weak spot on the colossus. Two possible spot glowed blue: on its abdomen and head.

  
Running in circles around the colossus revealed that the only climbable spot was, of course, its weapon. In the center of the canopy tower's top was a small cinder block circle. Ideas ran rapid throughout his mind, then the only plausible option came to him. If the weapon hit the the circle, the rebounded vibrations might distract the colossus long enough for him to climb on.  
Standing near the cinder block circle, Matthaeus whistled alerting the colossus to his position. Wasting no time, Gaius slammed its stone beam near Matthaeus hitting the cinder block circle. The vibrations from impact shot up the colossus' arm breaking off shoulder armor exposing climbable spot covered in fur for extra grip. Matthaeus made a quick recovery and climbed onto the weapon, dashing for the still arm. Gaius was still in shock with a numbed arm. Once feeling was regained, Gaius quickly raised its arm off the ground and shook it trying to throw Matthaeus off. Nearly losing traction, Matthaeus jumped and latched onto the furry arm. Making Gaius think he fell, Matthaeus scaled the arm and climbed down to the stone giant's abdomen.

  
Once on the blue glowing spot, he braced for the worst stench and possible beatings. Unsheathing his sword, Matthaeus drove it in with all his might opening cracks allowing black blood to leak. He pulled the sword out easily but the black blood geyser activated. The rotting sewage scented blood spewed out from the wound. He tried to stab the sword back it but it dinged and bounced.  
An eagle flew nearby towards the colossus' head. Matthaeus sheathed his sword and climbed around and up Gaius' back. He grabbed ahold of the architectural dog collar around its neck. Having minimal mobility with its neck, the colossus lifts its left hand and swipes near its neck. The hand hit Matthaeus knocking him off into a free fall towards the ground. He braced for impact but the eagle flew near him grabbing his wrists. Dodging the rock giant's hand and weapon, the eagle flew upwards towards the head of the colossus. Matthaeus disconnected himself from the eagle's grasp. He unsheathed his sword and landed on top of the colossus's head slamming the sword into the center of the weak point.

  
Gaius swatted the eagle with its stone hand sending it to the ground quickly. The sword pierced the stoned crack opening it further and tagging the brain. The hilt was a few inches from being level with the head. Matthaeus jumped and slammed his feet onto the sword's hilt causing it to bury further and stab the brain. Gaius' eyes flared orange with pain and anger, unable to defend itself from the parasite that plagued it. Black blood spewed out coating Matthaeus in inky darkness. The force of the blood geyser launched the sword out allowing Matthaeus to catch it. He gripped it tightly and slammed it again into the beast's head. More black blood spewed out but not strong enough to eject the sword.  
The colossus hollered in pain and its eyes glowed a bright orange, as the colossus shook its head violently. Matthaeus gripped the fur tightly and buried his face into his arm. The shaking stopped shortly after the blood geysers. The glowing orange eyes faded to a dull gray as the colossus lost all hope of victory. Slowly but surely the colossus fell to one knee then the other as the beam that acted as a last support column fell level with the ground. The body slammed into the ground cracking the platform slightly.

  
Matthaeus fell off the head upon impact and rolled a few dozen feet. The sword failed to stop the black essence tentacles from covering the fallen rock giant in darkness. Afraid that it was about to come after him, Matthaeus left the blade in its head and ran towards the edge of the platform. Looking down at a fifty foot drop, fear over took him making him light headed as he fell onto his stomach. He crawled and leaned over the edge sliding himself off. Before impact with the murky waters below, his vision blurred and blackened causing him to lose feeling of his body as if the fall had killed him.


End file.
